Kay Ryan, the 16th Poet Laureate of the United States (2008-2010) and a person of wry wisdom, today won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
Hear, hear!
Specifically, the prize was for her book “The Best of It: New and Selected Poems” (Grove Press). The Pulitzer people described the book this way: “a body of work spanning 45 years, witty, rebellious and yet tender, a treasure trove of an iconoclastic and joyful mind.”
During her tenure as Poet Laureate, Ryan – whose day job for 30 years was teaching remedial English part-time at the College of Marin in Kentfield, Calif. – established a poetry-writing contest for community-college students called “Poetry for the Mind’s Joy.”
You can watch Kay Ryan, reading her own poetry at the National Book Festival, here.
Comments (2)
How wonderful!!
YAYYY!!! We were SO very lucky here at the Library of Congress to have her as Poet Laureate. I never knew words could be/do/have what Kay Ryan fashions them into… being/making/carrying.
I know that theoretically EVERY experience in life changes us… but experiencing Kay Ryan’s poetry, especially as presented by her, makes the changes immediately sensate.